Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Eleventh Report - The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine programme in England
Public Accounts Committee
HC 258
Published 13 July 2022
Government response
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Eleventh report from Session 2022-23 · published 8 Nov 2022
Recommendations & Conclusions
5
Recommendation
Rejected
After starting with a portfolio of seven candidates, the UK’s vaccine supply for 2022 and...
Recommendation
After starting with a portfolio of seven candidates, the UK’s vaccine supply for 2022 and 2023 now relies primarily on just two, yet many of the risks that the ‘portfolio’ approach was intended to mitigate remain. The UK’s portfolio strategy …
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Government Response Summary
The government disagrees with the recommendation to review the future procurement strategy for COVID-19 vaccines, stating that the current strategy is kept under constant review with expert advice. They cite agreements with developers that give access to updated vaccines and bivalent vaccines having received regulatory approval.
HM Treasury
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10
Recommendation
Rejected
The vaccine programme still has some issues to address.
Recommendation
The vaccine programme still has some issues to address. In England, 2.98 million adults were still unvaccinated at the end of May 2022. Analysis by UKHSA has confirmed that full and booster vaccination reduces the risk of someone falling seriously …
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Government Response Summary
The government disagrees with the recommendation to set a challenge to reduce the number of unvaccinated adults to 2.5 million and achieve 80% booster uptake, arguing it is moving away from target-based approaches.
HM Treasury
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11
Recommendation
Rejected
We asked officials about their strategy with regard to the unvaccinated.
Recommendation
We asked officials about their strategy with regard to the unvaccinated. UKHSA and NHS England told us that the basic public health message remained clear—that everyone was encouraged to get vaccinated—and that they continued to work with local government, local …
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Government Response Summary
The government disagrees with the Committee's recommendation to reduce the number of unvaccinated adults to 2.5 million, stating that it will continue to focus on reaching out to the unvaccinated but will move away from setting targets.
HM Treasury
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12
Recommendation
Rejected
NHS England said it had built on approaches recommended by the Scientific Advisory Group for...
Recommendation
NHS England said it had built on approaches recommended by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies and the World Health Organisation to achieve the excellent uptake to date.27 But it acknowledged that the country was no longer in a state …
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Government Response Summary
The government disagrees with the Committee's recommendation to reduce the number of unvaccinated adults to 2.5 million, stating that it will continue to focus on reaching out to the unvaccinated but will move away from setting targets.
HM Treasury
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18
Conclusion
Rejected
As part of an earlier inquiry in January 2021, the Taskforce told us how its...
Conclusion
As part of an earlier inquiry in January 2021, the Taskforce told us how its portfolio strategy aimed to “optimise the chances of success” in securing access to vaccines at a time of huge uncertainty about whether effective vaccines were …
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Government Response Summary
The government explicitly disagrees with the committee's observation (interpreted as an implied recommendation to continue the exact same strategy). It states that while the portfolio approach was right initially, the strategy is now kept under constant review and adapts to new information and variants.
HM Treasury
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19
Recommendation
Rejected
Since then, out of the original portfolio of seven candidates, six have been approved for...
Recommendation
Since then, out of the original portfolio of seven candidates, six have been approved for use in the UK to date.44 But with six vaccines to choose from, it is noteworthy that only three—AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna—have actually been deployed …
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Government Response Summary
The government disagrees with the recommendation to review the future procurement strategy for COVID-19 vaccines, stating that the current strategy is kept under constant review with expert advice. They cite agreements with developers that give access to updated vaccines and bivalent vaccines having received regulatory approval.
HM Treasury
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20
Recommendation
Rejected
In our assessment, many of the risks that the portfolio approach was intended to mitigate...
Recommendation
In our assessment, many of the risks that the portfolio approach was intended to mitigate remain. Most notable among these is the risk that future variants of the virus may respond better to one vaccine than another, perhaps a vaccine …
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Government Response Summary
The government disagrees with the recommendation, stating that the portfolio approach was the right strategy in the early stages of the pandemic, and the vaccine procurement strategy is kept under constant review.
HM Treasury
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21
Recommendation
Rejected
The Taskforce also told us that the COVID-19 vaccine market was still developing and that...
Recommendation
The Taskforce also told us that the COVID-19 vaccine market was still developing and that it considered many different factors when deciding which vaccines to procure, including the evolution of the virus and improved learning about different types of vaccines …
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Government Response Summary
The government disagrees with the recommendation to review the future procurement strategy for COVID-19 vaccines, arguing that the current portfolio approach is constantly reviewed with clinical and commercial expertise.
HM Treasury
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